Food products manufactured for public consumption are often modified by adding nutritional or other types of supplements in order to enhance their nutritional properties. Nutritional fortification of products may include supplementation with nutrients that benefit the overall state of health of the human body. Examples of nutritional fortification include supplementation by vitamins, minerals, and comparable materials. These supplements are either absolutely essential for human metabolism or enhance the provision of substances that may not be available in sufficient amounts in a normal diet.
Potassium is one such essential nutrient. Potassium is the major intracellular cation in the human body and is required for normal cellular function, especially for transmission of nerve impulses, contraction of muscles, and the like. Almost 98 percent of the potassium content of a healthy individual is contained within the cells; only about 2 percent of total body potassium is extracellular. Potassium is generally maintained at a concentration of about 145 mmol/L in intracellular fluid and at much lower levels in plasma and interstitial fluid (about 3.8 to 5 mmol/L). Excess potassium is generally excreted in the urine.
Severe potassium deficiency or hypokalemia is usually defined as a serum potassium concentration of less than 3.5 mmol/L (about 140 mg/L). Hypokalemia may result in cardiac arrhythmia, muscle weakness, and glucose intolerance. Moderate potassium deficiency may result in increased blood pressure, increased salt sensitivity, increased risk of kidney stones, and increased bone turnover. An inadequate intake of dietary potassium may also increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, particularly stroke.
Currently, the published Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) or Daily Value (DV) for potassium is 3500 mg/day for adults in the United States. At present, dietary intakes of potassium in both the United States and Canada are considerably lower than this value. In recent surveys, the median intake of potassium by adults in the United States was approximately 2900 to 3200 mg (74 to 82 mmol)/day for men and 2100 to 2300 mg (54 to 59 mmol)/day for women; in Canada, the median intakes ranged from 3200 to 3400 mg (82 to 87 mmol)/day for men and 2400 to 2600 mg (62 to 67 mmol)/day for women. “Dietary Reference Intakes for Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate,” ISBN: 0-309-53049-0, 640 pages, (2004) (http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10925.html) (Chapter 5, pages 186-268, specifically relates to potassium).
Significant natural sources of potassium in the human diet include, for example, fresh fruits, especially bananas (e.g., a medium banana contains about 425 mg potassium), green leafy vegetables, grains, legumes, and potatoes. The conjugate anions of potassium found in such natural sources are generally organic anions, such as citrate, that can be converted in the body to bicarbonate. The bicarbonate can act as a buffer, thereby neutralizing diet derived acids such as sulfuric acid generated from sulfur-containing amino acids commonly found in meats and other high protein foods. Unfortunately, potassium as well as other nutrients, can be lost during conventional food processing. Thus, conventional process food products are generally considered not to be a good source of potassium. Typically, potassium fortification is carried out by adding potassium chloride or basic potassium salts directly to food, by using tabulation or encapsulation techniques, or by incorporating potassium-rich natural produce after removal of undesired components such as water and carbohydrate. Especially when potassium chloride is used to supplement, the buffering capacity is lost.
These prior art approaches are expensive and/or only of limited effectiveness, especially in high moisture foods and ready to use products. The relatively high levels of basic potassium salts required to deliver meaningful potassium fortification in food products generally result in an unpleasant aftertaste often characterized as bitter or soapy. Moreover, basic potassium salts reduce the total or titratable acidity of the product, which generally leads to even lower flavor impact. Thus, the potassium level obtained using conventional potassium fortification techniques in food products is generally limited to less than about 5 percent of the published DV values.
The present invention allows increased overall levels of potassium fortification, and thus improved levels of potassium delivery, while effectively eliminating off-taste and maintaining pH and total or titratable acidity levels at or near to equivalent non-potassium fortified food products. The invention provides high levels of potassium fortification in food products (e.g., up to about 50 percent of the published DV values) in a cost effective manner without adversely effected the flavor, pH, or total acidity profiles over a wide range of food products.